"I definitely still have that taste in my mouth," UAB senior Jordan Swing said. "They took it to us the whole game. I felt like we didn't do anything right the whole game and the coaches let us know it in the next practice."

UAB's Jordan Swing (left) and Alabama A&M's Green Hill reach for the ball during the first half of a NCAA basketball game at Bartow Arena in Birmingham, Ala., Sunday, Dec. 29, 2013. UAB won 69-57. (Mark Almond/malmond@al.com)

The teams meet again in Murfreesboro, Tenn., at the Murphy Center on Saturday at 5 p.m. The game will be televised on CSS.

This time, there's more on the line as the two are Conference USA rivals. UAB will host MTSU later this season. Last year, though, UAB turned the ball over 20 times in the loss, and trailed by 14 at halftime.

UAB finished 16-17, but this may have been the Blazers' worst game.

"It was one of the worst feelings," UAB head coach Jerod Haase said. "After the game, I was very discouraged about our competitiveness. I didn't think we were very into the game.

"We have to maintain or composure throughout. If we have a slow start, we're going to have to battle back. If we have a fast start, we're going to have to maintain our composure when they make their run."

UAB is 11-3 and will have some new weapons for MTSU this year with leading scorer Chad Frazier (17.6 ppg), the Blazers' point guard and forward C.J. Washington (14.5 ppg), the second-leading scorer.

"From there, we'll see how it evolves," Haase said. "I do think it's time for the guys to step up and show what they've got if they want to get into the games."

The rotation could shorten to those 7 for most of the minutes in Conference USA play, but guards Denzell Watts and Thaddeus Rideau and forwards Preston Purifoy and Tyler Madison are battling for minutes as well.